National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
National Museum Ireland – Archaeology

Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Seandálaíocht
Entrance to the museum
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Established	29 August 1890 (29 August 1890)
Location	Kildare Street, Dublin, Ireland
Type	National museum
Visitors	505,420 (2019)
Public transit access	St Stephen's Green Dublin Pearse Dublin Bus routes: 39, 39a, 46a, 145
National Museum of Ireland network
Archaeology Decorative Arts & History Country Life Natural History

The National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology (called Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Seandálaíocht in Irish, or often just "NMI") is a special part of the National Museum of Ireland. It's located on Kildare Street in Dublin, Ireland. This museum focuses on amazing old objects from Ireland and other places. These items date from the Stone Age all the way up to the Late Middle Ages.

The museum was created in 1877. Before that, its collections were split between the Royal Dublin Society and the Natural History Museum. The building you see today was designed by father and son architects Thomas Newenham Deane and Thomas Manly Deane.

The NMI has a huge collection of items from prehistoric Ireland. These include bog bodies (ancient people preserved in bogs), and objects from the Iron and Bronze Age. You can see axe-heads, swords, and shields made of bronze, silver, and gold. The oldest items are from around 7000 BC! The museum also has the world's largest collection of Irish medieval art from after the Roman era, known as Insular art. Plus, there are many medieval metal items, Viking artifacts like swords and coins, and ancient objects from Ancient Egypt, Cyprus, and the Roman world.

How the Museum Started

The idea for the museum came from a law passed in 1877. This law brought together collections from the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). The RIA needed government money to keep buying new items. Becoming a state museum also made it easier to work with places like the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland.

Many early items in the museum came from places like Trinity College Dublin. Important pieces include the Cross of Cong and the Domnach Airgid. In the mid-1800s, the museum also got collections from people like George Petrie. He left about 1,500 artifacts, including 900 from prehistoric times.

Many of these old items were found in the 1800s by farmers. As the population grew and new machines were used, land that hadn't been touched for ages was farmed. People like George Petrie helped save these metal objects from being melted down. Even today, new discoveries are made! For example, the 8th-century Tully Lough Cross was found in 1986. The Clonycavan bog bodies were found in 2003.

In 1908, the museum changed its name to the National Museum of Science and Art. After Ireland became independent in 1921, it was renamed the National Museum of Ireland.

The Museum Building

The original museum was called the Dublin Museum of Science and Art. It was located near Leinster House and the Natural History Museum. Soon, the museum needed more space for its growing collections. So, a new building was constructed on Kildare Street.

This new building opened on August 29, 1890. It was designed by Thomas Newenham Deane and his son, Thomas Manly Deane. The style is called Victorian Palladian. The tall columns at the entrance and the round dome inside are made from Irish marble. They look a bit like 18th-century neoclassical buildings and the Pantheon in Rome. The outside walls are mostly Leinster granite. The columns are made from sandstone from County Donegal.

Inside, the mosaic floors show scenes from ancient Greek and Roman stories. These floors were made in the 1800s but were covered for many years. They were cleaned and restored in 2011. The beautiful wooden doors were carved by artists from Dublin or Italy. The fireplaces have special majolica tiles. The balcony in the main hall is held up by thin cast-iron columns. These columns have fancy tops decorated with groups of cherubs.

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  Columns and domed rotunda at the entrance

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  Stairway between the museum's two floors

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  View from the centre court overlooking the goldwork exhibition hall

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  Treasury room

What Can You See?

The NMI has several big permanent exhibits. Most are about Irish history. There are also smaller exhibits on ancient Mediterranean cultures. These include galleries on Ancient Egypt and "Ceramics and Glass from Ancient Cyprus".

Prehistoric Ireland

From Stone Age to Early Metal Use

The museum's prehistoric Ireland exhibit shows items from when humans first lived in Ireland. This was right after the last Ice Age. It goes up to the Celtic Iron Age. You can see many stone tools made by the first hunter-gatherers around 7000 BC. Then, there are tools, pottery, and burial objects from Neolithic farmers.

Some special items include four rare Jadeite axeheads. These were brought from the Alps in Neolithic Italy. There's also a unique ceremonial macehead found at the tomb of Knowth. The exhibit then shows how metalworking came to Ireland around 2500 BC. You can see early copper tools.

From the later Bronze Age, there are many bronze axes, daggers, swords, and shields. There are also cauldrons and cast bronze horns. These horns are the earliest known Irish musical instruments. You can also see some very early Iron weapons. Wooden objects include a large dugout logboat, wooden wheels, and ancient reed fishing gear.

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  River Bann Axehead, Neolithic period

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  The Corleck Head, a 1st or 2nd century AD three-faced stone head found in Drumeague, County Cavan, Ireland c. 1855.

Bronze Age Gold Treasures

The NMI has one of the "largest and most important" collections of Bronze Age gold items in Western Europe. These date from about 2200 to 1800 BC. The gold was found in river gravel. It was hammered into thin sheets to make objects like crescent-shaped collars (Gold lunula), bracelets, and dress-fasteners. Most of these gold items were probably jewelry. But some objects have unknown uses, possibly for rituals.

By the middle Bronze Age, new gold-making techniques appeared. From around 1200 BC, many different torcs were made by twisting gold bars. Items from the late Bronze Age, starting in 900 BC, include solid gold bracelets and dress-fasteners. There are also large sheet gold collars, ear-spools, and a necklace of hollow golden balls.

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  Decorated stone from Loughcrew, Co Meath, 2500-1700 BC

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  Gold lunula, Coggalbeg hoard, 2200-1800 BC

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  The Gleninsheen gorget, Co Clare, c. 800-700 BC

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  Gold collar, Co Clare, 800-700 BC

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  Gold dress fastener from Killymoom Demesne in County Tyrone (800-700 BC)

Iron Age Bog Bodies

The museum has several well-preserved Irish bog bodies from the Iron Age. Some of these bodies might have been part of ritual sacrifices. Archaeologist Eamonn Kelly suggested that these bodies were tribal kings. He believes they were sacrificed by their community if they failed as kings. They were then drowned in water at the edge of their tribal land.

The bog bodies in the museum include Cashel Man (around 2000 BC), who might be the oldest fleshed bog body found in Europe. Others are Gallagh Man (470-120 BC), Clonycavan Man (392 to 201 BC), Old Croghan Man (362 to 175 BC), and Baronstown West Man (242 to 388 BC).

These bodies are all males, aged 25 to 40 years old. They died in violent ways, possibly as part of rituals. For example, the withy hoop around Gallagh Man's neck was probably used to strangle him. While he might have been a criminal, the willow rope suggests a ritual sacrifice. This is because such ropes often appear in early Irish myths for this purpose.

The bodies are displayed with other items from the Celtic Iron Age. These include metal weapons, horse gear, and wooden and leather pieces. You can also see the Ralaghan Idol, an Iron Age carved wooden figure from County Cavan.

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  Clonycavan Man, 392 to 201 BC, found in County Meath, 2003

Early Medieval Treasures

The museum's treasury room shows early medieval Christian and non-religious Irish metalwork. These items date from the late Iron Age to the late 12th century. They include important pieces from the La Tène and Insular periods. The older works show influences from Anglo-Saxon art from England and Germanic parts of Europe. Many pieces after the late 8th century show the influence of Viking art.

Chalices, Crosses, and Relics

The items in the Treasury room are arranged by time period. It starts with pieces like the Rinnegan Crucifixion Plaque. This is one of the earliest images of the crucifixion in Irish art. It's also a rare example of a story scene outside of illuminated manuscripts. Bell shrines are common early medieval artifacts. The best ones in the museum are St. Columba's bell and the bell and shrine of St. Patrick.

The "Golden Age" of Irish art began in the 8th century with church metalwork. This includes items like the 8th-century Moylough Belt-Shrine. Also, the 8th or 9th-century Ardagh and Derrynaflan chalices are here. The Viking invasion changed Irish metalwork after the early 10th century. More silver and amber were used. Scandinavian techniques and styles were also adopted. This time also saw church reforms and rich people paying for artwork.

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  The Rinnegan Crucifixion Plaque, late 7th or early 8th century

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  The Moylough Belt-Shrine, 8th century. Discovered in a bog in Sligo in 1945

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  Chalice from the Ardagh Hoard, 8th- or 9th-century

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  The Tully Lough Cross, 8th or 9th century. Bronze, gilt and tin mounted on wood

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  Derrynaflan Chalice, 8th- or 9th-century. Part of the Derrynaflan Hoard found in 1980 near Killenaule, County Tipperary.

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  The Corp Naomh (sacred body) bell-shrine, 10th and 15th centuries

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  The Cross of Cong, early 12th-century

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  Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell, c. 1100

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  Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm, c. 1118–1121. A reliquary made of wood and metal shaped as an outstretched forearm and clenched fist.

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  Shrine of St Patrick's Tooth, 12th and 14th centuries

Many of these objects were lost long ago and only found again in the 1800s and 1900s. The museum helps figure out their age, restore them, and keep them safe. Recent important finds include the Tully Lough Cross, found in County Roscommon in 1986.

The Faddan More Psalter (around 800 AD) was found in a bog in July 2006. It's in a gallery next to the Treasury.

Beautiful Brooches

The Tara Brooch, c. 710–750

The museum has many fancy penannular Celtic brooches. These were used as clothes fasteners by important people in Ireland and Scotland. Men usually wore them on one shoulder, and women on their chest. Brooches are very important examples of high-quality non-religious metalwork from early medieval Insular art. Later, middle-class people also wore them. The most detailed brooches showed high social status. Clergy also wore them, probably to fasten their special robes.

The Vikings started raiding Ireland in 795. This was very bad for the monasteries. But even though the Vikings set up camps and later towns like Dublin and Waterford, the Irish were better at stopping large Viking settlements than the English or Scots. During this time, there was much more silver available, likely from Viking raids and trade. Most brooches from this period are made entirely of silver. Gold plating and other decorations almost disappear. These brooches are often large but plainer than the earlier, more detailed ones.

The early 8th-century Tara Brooch is thought to be the most complex and beautiful medieval brooch. It's been called the "most outstanding item of secular metalwork of the early medieval period." It has been shown around the world. It also helped start the Celtic Revival in the mid-1800s. The 9th-century Roscrea Brooch is one of several brooches that show a change in style. Later Irish brooches show Viking influences in their style and techniques. One example was found on Rathlin Island.

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  7th century penannular brooch, bronze, Arthurstown, County Kildare

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  Ballinderry Brooch, c. 600, one of the most complexly designed and important of the surviving early brooches

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  9th century silver brooch, Rathlin Island, County Antrim

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  The Kilmainham Brooch, late 8th- or early 9th-century. Its design was influenced by both Pictish and Viking metalwork.

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  Penanular Celtic brooch, County Meath, 9th century

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  The Roscrea Brooch, 9th century

House-shaped Shrines

House-shaped shrines come from Europe, Ireland, and Scotland. Most are from the 8th or 9th centuries. Like many Insular shrines, they were changed and decorated more in the centuries after they were first made. They often had metal decorations or figures influenced by Romanesque sculpture. Typical ones have a wooden core covered with silver and copper alloy plates.

These shrines were made to hold relics of saints or martyrs from the early Church. Some found in modern times still had parts of a saint's body inside. Others, like the now damaged Breac Maodhóg, held old manuscripts connected to the saint.

The Breac Maodhóg was probably used as a battle standard. A priest would carry it onto the battlefield to protect soldiers and help them win. An old text says that kings would have the "famous wonder-working Breac" carried around them three times during battle.

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  The Lough Erne Shrine, 11th century. The smaller but similar shrine was found inside the larger container.

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  Drawing of a shrine found in the River Shannon, c. 9th century

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  Gable of the badly damaged but important Breac Maodhóg, showing the figure of a harpist. Late 11th century

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  Saint Manchan's Shrine, 12th century

Book Shrines (Cumdachs)

Cumdachs (or book shrines) are fancy metal boxes or cases. They were used to hold Early Medieval Irish manuscripts or relics. They are usually much newer than the books they hold, sometimes by hundreds of years. Most surviving examples have books from the best period of Irish monasteries, before 800 AD. The cumdachs themselves are usually from after 1000 AD.

These shrines were meant to permanently seal and protect a manuscript or relic. They usually have a cross design on the main side. They often use large rock crystal or other semi-precious stones. The spaces between the cross arms have other decorations. Many were carried on a metal chain or leather cord, often worn from the belt or around the neck. This placed them near the heart, which was thought to offer spiritual or healing benefits. They were also used to heal the sick or dying, or to witness contracts. Many were passed down through families who had connections with monasteries.

Most of these book shrines are mentioned in old Irish records. But they weren't properly described until the early 1800s. That's when people like Petrie started looking for them in family collections. Most are badly damaged. This is due to normal wear, fires, or owners selling off parts like the gemstones. Most of them are now in the NMI.

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  The shrine of the Stowe Missal, showing openwork patterns

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  Shrine of Miosach, 11th century. May have once contained a manuscript with psalms or extracts from a Gospel

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  The Shrine of the Cathach of St. Columba, 11th century

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  Detail from the 11th century Soiscél Molaisse showing St. Matthew

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  Panel from the Domnach Airgid, an 8th-century wooden reliquary reworked between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Bishop's Staffs (Croziers)

Drop-plate of the River Laune Crozier, late 11th century

Drop-plate of the Clonmacnoise Crozier

The NMI has most of the existing Insular croziers. These are special processional staffs used by bishops or abbots in Ireland and Scotland. They were made between about 800 and 1200 AD. They look different from European ones because of their curved tops and a hollow box-like part at the end. They were symbols of power for church leaders, showing them as shepherds guiding their people.

Even though they stopped being made around 1200, they were still used and often repaired or added to until the late medieval period. After monasteries were closed in the 12th and 13th centuries, croziers were in danger from Viking and Norman invaders. They were large and hard to hide. That's why many surviving ones were broken in two, making them easier to hide in small places. Most of the remaining croziers or pieces were kept by families for centuries. They were rediscovered by people interested in old things in the early 1800s.

Croziers are often decorated with interlace designs, geometric patterns, and zoomorphic (animal-like) figures. The animal designs in the oldest ones, like the 9th-century Prosperous Crozier, look very natural. Many later ones, like the Lismore Crozier from around 1100, show influences from Viking art styles (Ringerike and Urnes). Some Ringerike animals look like figures on the edges of 9th-century Celtic brooches. The late 11th-century Clonmacnoise Crozier is considered the finest complete example in terms of craftsmanship and decoration. The 11th-century River Laune and Lismore Crozier are also very high quality.

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  Prosperous Crozier, late 10th or early 11th century

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  Crozier of Dysert O'Dea (or St. Tola's Crozier), 11th century

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  Crozier head (fragment)

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  Lismore Crozier, c 1100

Late Medieval Period

During the 12th century, Viking port cities like Dublin, Waterford, and Cork traded a lot with Britain and Europe. This meant more international styles came to Ireland. It slowly ended the unique Insular period of Irish art. The older style mostly finished after church reforms in the mid-12th century and the Norman invasion of 1169–1170. After that, Romanesque art became popular.

According to Kelly, by the late Middle Ages, "much of the material on display [in the museum] illustrates lifestyles, trades and activities that were common to much of medieval Europe." This means that Irish art from the Gothic and Renaissance periods was mostly a local version of wider European styles.

The English takeover of Ireland meant the island had two different identities in the late Middle Ages. Each had its own language, laws, and cultures. You can see this in the museum's collection from that time. The museum defines this late period as from 1150 to 1550. However, there's some overlap with the earlier "golden age" of Irish art, including some later croziers, bell-shrines, and cumdachs.

Kelly says the museum shows its later collection in three groups: "bellatores (those who fight), oratores (those who pray) and laboratores (those who work)".

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  Copper-alloy crucifix figurine, County Wicklow, 12th century

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  Crucifix in gilded copper-alloy, c. 1470

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  Gilded silver cross pendant, c. 1500

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  Silver cross pendant with glass and garnets, c. 1500. Found near Callan, County Kilkenny

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  Pendant with crucifix, gilded silver, c. 1500, County Waterford

How the Museum Works

The museum's job is to keep Ireland's "archaeological, ethnographical, classical and Egyptian collections." It also handles legal duties. These include taking ownership of archaeological objects that belong to the State. It also controls licenses for exporting or changing archaeological objects. The museum's daily work involves recording and listing newly found artifacts. In 2019, most of these were bog finds, stone tools, and ceramics.